Chris Lang | |
|---|---|
 Lang in 2014 | |
| Born | 7 November 1961 Lambeth, London, England |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, television producer |
| Nationality | British |
| Period | 1985–present |
| Notable works | The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe (2022) Amnesia (2004) ContentsDark Heart (2018) |
| Children | 5 |
Chris Lang (born 1961) is a British screenwriter, producer and actor. Lang has written for many British television series but is best known as the writer, creator and executive producer of Unforgotten .
He trained at RADA, graduating in 1983, after winning the Royal Academy award for 'A Series of Outstanding Performances in the Vanbrugh Theatre'. As an actor he worked on such British television series as Shadow of the Noose , Drop the Dead Donkey , Outside Edge , A Dance to the Music of Time and All Along the Watchtower . In his youth, he formed a comedy revue called The Jockeys of Norfolk with Andy Taylor and Hugh Grant, [1] but stopped acting in the mid nineties in order to fully concentrate on his writing career.
Lang began his screenwriting career on The Bill , for which he wrote many episodes, and for which he won a Writer's Guild award. He went on to write episodes for shows including Casualty , Soldier Soldier , The Knock , POW , Primeval , Hustle and The Tunnel for Sky Atlantic. In 2001, he wrote and created his first original drama series 'The Glass', which starred John Thaw and Sarah Lancashire. [2] Since then some of his other original work has included Sirens , Unconditional Love , Amnesia (which was nominated for an Edgar Award), [3] Lawless , and The Reckoning .
The first series of Unforgotten starred Nicola Walker, Trevor Eve, Sir Tom Courtenay, Cherie Lunghi, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Gemma Jones, Hannah Gordon, Ruth Sheen and Bernard Hill, and was broadcast in Autumn 2015. Sir Tom Courtenay later won the 2016 BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his role, [4] and was nominated for a RTS award for his performance, while Nicola Walker was nominated at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for best actress. [5]
In November 2015, ITV announced it would be returning for a second series, [6] which aired in January 2017 to an audience of 7.29 million, [7] with the Daily Telegraph describing the series as 'The detective drama of the decade'. [8] In November 2017 Mark Bonnar won the 2017 Best Actor BAFTA Scotland for his portrayal of Colin Osborne in the series. [9] Bonnar also won best actor in the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards 2018.
In March 2017, ITV announced Unforgotten would return for a third series, [10] which aired in July 2018 and received universal critical acclaim, with The Observer asking 'How good is Unforgotten...one of our most human and humane cop shows', and The Guardian remarking that 'Unforgotten is once again superb....it's beautifully crafted and performed, tight, gripping, but also moving and so very human...there is no better drama on television.' The last episode was watched by over 7.5 million viewers, making it the most watched episode of all three series. Alex Jennings was later nominated by BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Tim Finch in the series.
In December 2018, The Hook Up Plan , an eight-part romantic comedy that Lang created and co-wrote, and which shot in Paris, aired on Netflix. It starred Zita Hanrot, Sabrina Ouazani, Joséphine Draï and Marc Ruchmann. [11] In February 2019 Netflix announced it would return for a second series which broadcast in 2020.
In October 2018, a new six-part drama called Dark Heart , which Lang wrote and executive produced, and which starred Tom Riley and Charlotte Riley broadcast in the UK with the 1st episode attracting an audience of 6.3 million. [12]
In February 2021 Unforgotten returned for a fourth series, [13] to universal critical acclaim and an average rating across the series of 9.5 million, up on series 3 by an average of 2.5 million per episode. It was nominated as best drama by both BAFTA and Royal Television Society. A few months later series 4 was broadcast in the states on PBS. Series 1-3 are currently playing around the world on Netflix, Amazon and Sky. It returned for a fifth series in February 2023 with Sinead Keenan now starring alongside Sanjeev Bhaskar and aired to a first episode audience of 8.4 million, making it the highest rated ITV programme of the year, and third most watched drama across all channels. Following broadcast, a 6th series was announced, which started shooting in the UK and Ireland in March 2024.
In the late noughties, he co-formed TXTV, through which he made much of his work, including Innocent , a four-part thriller starring Lee Ingleby, Hermione Norris, Nigel Lindsay and Angel Coulby. [14] which broadcast on 14–17 May 2018 to a consolidated first night audience of 8.05 million, making it the most watched new ITV drama of the year, with The Daily Express calling it - 'Spellbinding...the TV drama that has got the whole nation watching". Innocent returned for a second series which broadcast on Monday 17 May 2021 to an first night audience of 7.80 million.
Other TXTV shows include Undeniable , starring Peter Firth and Claire Goose, [15] which aired in April 2014, and was remade in France in February 2017, entitled 'Quand Je Serai Grande Je Te Tuerai' starring Laetitia Milot. Filmed on the Île de Ré it broadcast in France in late 2017 to an audience of seven million. [16] A Mother's Son starring Hermione Norris, Paul McGann and Martin Clunes (September 2012) which was nominated for a Broadcast Award, [17] and adapted as a single film for TF1 in France called 'Tu Es Mon Fils' (April 2015) and starring Anne Marivin. [18] 'Tu Es Mon Fils' later won best single film at the Polar de Cognac Film Festival. [19] Lang's series Torn , starring Holly Aird and Nicola Walker, was nominated for an RTS award. [20] and was also remade for French TV as 'Entre Deux Mères' It was shown at the Luchon Film and TV festival [21] and broadcast on TF1 on 27 March 2017. The French remake of his 2010 UK TXTV drama The Reckoning starred Odille Vuillemin and Thiery Neuvic and aired in September 2018. In January 2021 it was announced that Viaplay/Elisa were remaking A Mother's Son in Finland. Retitled 'Polanski Joel', it broadcast in mid 2022.
In April 2022, he saw the broadcast of The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe starring Monica Dolan and Eddie Marsan, the true story of John and Anne Darwin, which Lang wrote and for which he was the executive producer. It aired to a first episode audience of 10.01 million, making it the third most watched UK drama of the year. The series was selected for competition at the Geneva International Film Festival in November 2022 with Lang as a guest speaker and was nominated for 'Best serial' at the 'Broadcast Awards' 2022. It was also nominated as best mini series by BAFTA 2023 and by BPG 2023. Monica Dolan was also nominated for best actor Royal Television Society 2023. It was also nominated as best drama series at the Edinburgh TV Festival 2023.
In February 2024, Lang's new show 'I, Jack Wright' started shooting in the UK. Starring John Simm, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Gemma Jones, Daniel Rigby, James Fleet and Zoe Tapper, it will broadcast in early 2025. Lang will serve as creator, writer and executive producer.
Lang's first wife died by suicide in 2007. [22] [23] Lang and his second wife share five children. [24]
He has said that underlying happiness is very little affected by career success. [25]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay is an English actor. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he achieved prominence in the 1960s as part of actors of the British New Wave. Courtenay has received numerous accolades including three BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award, the Silver Bear, and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Emmy Award. He was knighted for his services to cinema and theatre in the 2001 New Year Honours.
David Matthew Macfadyen is an English actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he gained prominence for his role as Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice (2005). He gained wider recognition for playing Tom Wambsgans in the HBO drama series Succession (2018–2023), for which he received two consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards, two BAFTA Television Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.
Amanda Root is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her starring role as Anne Elliot in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Persuasion. A familiar face on both stage and screen, she worked regularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company during her early career, performing as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, among other roles. In 2009, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Sarah in Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests.
Darren John Boyd is a British actor who starred in the Sky One series Spy, for which he won BAFTA TV Award for Best Male Comedy Performance. His work in television and film spans comedy and drama.
Sarah Quintrell is a BAFTA nominated writer, producer and actress, best known for her work on The Power (2023) and His Dark Materials.. Sarah's writing debut was the multi-award winning single drama Ellen, which she followed up with five-part crime drama The Trial: A Murder In The Family.
Nicola Jane Walker is an English actress, known for her starring roles in various British television programmes from the 1990s onwards, including that of Ruth Evershed in the spy drama Spooks and DCI Cassie Stuart in Unforgotten (2015–2021). She has also worked in theatre, radio and film. She won the 2013 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and was twice nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for the BBC drama Last Tango in Halifax.
Edward Maurice Charles Marsan is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film Happy-Go-Lucky (2008).
Peter Kosminsky is a British writer, director and producer. He has directed Hollywood movies such as White Oleander and television films like Warriors, The Government Inspector, The Promise, Wolf Hall and The State.
Richard Mark Bonnar is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Max in Guilt, Duncan Hunter in Shetland, Bruno Jenkins in Casualty, Detective Finney in Psychoville, DCC Mike Dryden in Line of Duty, Colin Osborne in Unforgotten, Blackbeard in Assasin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Townsend in Battlefield 1 and Field in Summer of Rockets.
Studio Lambert is a British television production company based in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Los Angeles. It creates and produces scripted and unscripted programs for British and American broadcasters, cable networks and streaming platforms. It is part of All3Media, the global production group.
Sinéad Keenan is an Irish actress with a wide range of television, film and stage credits. Keenan is best known for playing Farrah Phelan in Fair City and for playing the role of werewolf Nina Pickering on BBC Three's supernatural drama Being Human. She has since played DCI Jessica James in ITV1 drama Unforgotten since 2023.
Monica Margaret Dolan is an English actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Rosemary West in Appropriate Adult (2011).
Jason Peter Watkins is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He has also played William Herrick in Being Human, Gavin Strong in Trollied, Simon Harwood in W1A, Gordon Shakespeare in the film series Nativity, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in Season 3 of The Crown and Detective Sergeant Dodds in McDonald & Dodds.
Laurence J. Bowen is a British television and film producer.
Broadchurch is a British crime drama television series broadcast on ITV for three series between 2013 and 2017. It was created by Chris Chibnall, who acted as an executive producer and wrote all 24 episodes; it was produced by Kudos in association with Imaginary Friends Productions Ltd. The series is set in Broadchurch, a fictional English town on the coast of Dorset; it focuses on Detective Inspector Alec Hardy and Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller. Other members of the ensemble cast appearing in all three seasons are Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan, Arthur Darvill, Carolyn Pickles, Jonathan Bailey, Matthew Gravelle, Charlotte Beaumont and Adam Wilson.
Unforgotten is a British crime drama television series, which initially aired on ITV on 8 October 2015. It was created and written by Chris Lang and directed by Andy Wilson. The programme follows a team of London detectives led by DCI Cassie Stuart, DCI Jessie James and DI Sunny Khan as they solve cold cases of disappearance and murder.
Two Brothers Pictures is a British television production company founded in 2014 by brothers Harry and Jack Williams. The company launched with the BBC One series The Missing. The show was nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards, 4 BAFTAs and 2 Emmys as well as winning two Nymph d'Ors, Bulldog, and BPG awards. The Missing returned in 2016 for a second series airing on BBC One and Starz.
Chris Walley is an Irish actor. He is best known for his role as Jock O'Keeffe in the comedy film The Young Offenders (2016), for which he won an IFTA Award, and its subsequent RTÉ and BBC Three series. He won a Laurence Olivier Award for his performance in The Lieutenant of Inishmore revival on the West End.
The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe is an ITV television drama series that was first broadcast on 17 April 2022. Written by Chris Lang and directed by Richard Laxton, the programme dramatises the John Darwin disappearance case (2002-2007), where prison officer and teacher John Darwin faked his own death in a canoeing accident, and reappeared five and a half years after he was believed to have died.
